Grenade sight for firearms



Janl1, 1949- J. c. GARAND ErAL GRENADE SIGHT FOR FIREARMS 5 Sheets sheet l Filed Nov. 9, 1945 Jan'. 11, 1949. J GARAND ETAL 2,458,510

GRENADE SIGHT FOR FIREARMS Filed Nov. 9, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 @wm/WMA JDHN E- EARAND, E- E EmmP-ER,T IDHNR-E1|RD,

I l Jan. 11, 1949. J. c. GARAND ETAL GRENADE SIGHT FOR FIREARMS 3 Sheets-Sheet '5 Filed Nov. 9, 1945 D.l W m ,En D 5. An EAM# BRE www EH M C E M Patented Jan. 11,v 1949 GRENADE SIGHT FOR FIREARMS John C. Garand, Springfield, Eli G. Cooper, Framingham, and John R.. Bird, Pittsfield, Mass., and Harold C. Miller, Billings, Mo.

Application November 9, 1945, Serial No. 627;'774

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 11 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a sight for a firearm, more particularly to a sight for firearms adapted to fire grenades.

Grenades are frequently red from shoulder ries by means of a grenade launcher which is generally attached to the muzzle of such firearm. The grenade is launched from the grenade launcher by ring a blank cartridge in the rifle in place of regular ball ammunition. Due to the comparatively great weight of the grenade so launched, the flight velocity of such grenade is necessarily low. With such low velocity a very high trajectory curve is required to secure any substantial iiight distance.

It is evident therefore that the conventional sights mounted on the firearm would be practically worthless in aiming the re arm particularly at eXtreme grenade ranges because such sights do not have sufficient latitude of adjustment. Furthermore, the grenade is generally launched from the firearm positioned with its butt against the ground to better take up the severe recoil attendant the launching. Accordingly, it would be extremely inconvenient to assume a position permitting utilization of conventional sights on the firearm. It is appreciated that other makeshift devices have been utilized for sights for shoulder firearms when firing grenades from such rearms. Such devices however were far from satisfactory because considerable guess work was required of the grenadier in aiming the grenade launching ream, particularly as to the angle of elevation of the firearm.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved sight for a firearm adapted to launch grenades.

vide a grenade launching sight for a rearm ithat will accurately indicate the angle of elevation of such firearm with respect to the horizontal.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the sight shown assembled to the side of a rearm.

Fig. 2 is a top elevational view of the sight shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of Fig. 1.

A particular object of this invention is to pro- Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail longitudinal sectional view taken along the plane 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevational detail view of the cup-shaped disk-like base member showing the elevation graduations.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged rear elevational detail view of the base member showing the two series of serrations.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged front elevational view of the bracket retaining spring.

Fig. 8 is a top elevational View of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a top elevational detail view of the sighting bar.

Fig. 10 is a left end elevational view of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail View of the right end of the sighting member shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary detail top elevational View of the front end of the sighting member showing the enlarged screw hole for windage adjustment.

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing an alternative modification.

Fig. 14 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the plane |4-I4 of Fig. 13.

Fig. l5 is a cross sectional view taken along the plane I5-l5 of Fig. 13.

Fig. 16 is a front elevational view of the alternative bracket member.

Fig. 17 is a rear elevational view of the base member showing the oppositely disposed notches and serrations.

This invention essentially comprises pivotally mounting a sighting bar on a circular base, such base being xedly secured to the stock of a rearm. The base member is provided with a series of serrations to hold the sighting bar in any one of a plurality of angular positions, such positions being preferably marked in degrees on the base member. A spirit level is provided on the sighting bar to assist in the accurate determination of the angle of elevation of the gun, particularly at eXtreme elevation angles of departure.

Referring to the drawings wherein like characters refer to similar parts, there is shown in Fig. 1 a sight embodying this invention. A circular cup-shaped disk l comprising the base member of the sight is mounted on the side of the stock of a firearm 2 by two screws 3 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. On the underside of circular base member I, near the outer edge thereof there are provided two oppositely disposed series of serrations 4 for a purpose to be presently described. Suitable graduations 3| are provided on the outer face of base I corresponding to serrations 4 and are preferably marked in degrees.

A sighting bar 5 is rotatably mounted on base member I. Sighting bar 5 comprises a comparatively long L-shaped member (Figs. 3 and 9) which terminates at its forward end in an upright blade member 8 while the rear end 9 is bent at right angles to bar 5 as shown in Fig. 1. A mounting bracket I is secured to the center of sighting bar by two screws I I On the mounting bracket II) there are provided two integral offset lugs I2. and I3. The outer surfaces of lugs I2 and I3 are arcuately formed so as to engage the cup-shaped interior of base member I as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The bracket I0 is rotatably secured to the base member I by a clip or spring I4. Each end of spring I4 is bent inwardly as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 8 and a detent I5 is integrally formed on the inside surface of such ends. An integral upstanding lug I6 (Fig. '7) is provided in the center of spring I4. The upper surface of lug I6 has the same arcuate configuration as lug I2. An index mark I1 is provided in the center ofv lug I6. Two oppositely disposed arcuate slots I8 are provided in spring I4 equally disposed with respect to the Vcenter of spring I4 so that such spring may be mounted on sighting bar 5 by the screws I I. The spring I4 is placed between mounting bracket Ill and sighting bar 5 and is held in such position by the screws I I. Sighting bar 5 may then be mounted onbase I by slipping spring I4 over such base so that each detent I5 engages the serrations 4 on the underside of base I and the lugs I2 and I3 then engage the interior of base member I. Thus spring I4 will secure the sighting bar 5 to the firearm 2.

A spirit level I9 (Fig. 2) is secured to sighting rbar 5 as by two screws 20 and is provided for a purpose to be described. A rear sighting member 2| is mounted on the top of sighting bar 5 and comprises a flat spring-like member having the rear end thereof bent at right angles to form an upright tang 22. Rear sighting member 2| is secured to the forward end of sighting bar 5 as by two screws 23 (Fig. 1). One of the holes in member 2| engaged by one of the screws 23 is of enlarged diameter to obtain windage adjustment of such member as will be later described. A rectangular washer 24 may be placed on top of rear sighting member 2| as shown in Fig. 2, such washer of course, being held thereon by the screws 23. A transverse indent 25 is provided on sighting member 2| at the rear end thereof as shown in Fig. 1 for a purpose toI be described. A sighting notch 26 is provided on top of the tang portion 22 of sighting member 2| so that the blade portion 8 of sighting bar 5 may be brought into alignment with the rear sighting member 2| in sighting the rie.

Vertical adjustment of rear sighting member 2| is effected by a screw 21 which is screwed into a vertically threaded hole 28 provided in sighting bar 5 near the upright end 9 thereof. An integral detent 29 is provided on top of screw 21 which engages'the indent 25 on rear sighting member 2| thereby yieldingly locking screw 21 at any desired vertical height of such screw. The lead of the thread on screw 21 is preferably such that one minute of angle of elevation may be obtained with one-half turn of such screw. Suitable graduations 3|; are 'provided on tang 22 of sighting memi ber 2| to indicate elevation adjustment on such sighting member. Windage adjustment of sighting member 2| is readily achieved by unloosening screws 23 and moving sighting member 2| laterally in the direction desired. Suitable windage graduations 32 (Fig. 11) may be provided on tang 22 to facilitate such adjustment. As one of the holes in sighting member 2| is enlarged as previously mentioned, such windage adjustment is readily accomplished. Sighting member 2| is again secured in position by simply tightening screws 23.

An alternative modification for mounting the sighting bar 5 to base member I is shown in Fig. 13. In the base member I, there are provided two oppositely disposed notches 33 on the iiange thereof. Each notch 33 is located adjacent the serra tions 4 as shown in Fig. 17. A mounting bracket 34 comprises a circular cup-shaped member as shown in Figs. 15 and 16 proportioned to snugly surround base member I. A square notch 35 is provided in bracket 34 near the periphery thereof. An indexing mark 36 is provided on bracket 34 opposite the center of notch 35 to indicate the setting of sighting bar 5 in a similar manner to that previously described. Two oppositely disposed holes 31 and 38 are provided equally spaced from the axis of bracket 34 for the purpose of mounting sighting bar 5 to bracket 34. Hole 38 is elongated to permit sighting bar 5 to be conveniently adjusted to a zero elevation setting.

Spring I4 and sighting bar 5 are secured to bracket 34 in a similar manner as described for bracket I0 by screws II. Sighting bar 5 with bracket 34 secured to such sighting bar is then readily assembled to the base member I by inserting the inwardly bent ends of spring I4 thru notches 33 and then rotating the sighting bar 5 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 14 to bring the detents I5 0n spring I4 into engagement with the serrations 4 on the underside of the base member I. The notch 35 lprovided on bracket 34 permits the graduations 3| on the base member I to be readily observed. From the foregoing description, it is readily apparent that this modication presents a convenient means for rapidly attaching sighting bar 5 to the base member I.

With the grenade launcher sight thus assembled to a rearm such rearm is readily aimed on a target by adjusting the sighting bar to the required number of degrees of elevation necessary for the particular range of the target. It should be mentioned here that this sight is preferably used in conjunction with a sighting table wherein the ranges in feet or yards are related to degrees of angle on the base of the sight. To set sighting bar 5 at 30 elevation, for example, the'sighting bar is grasped and rotated within base I until index mark I1 on spring I4 comes opposite the graduation indicating 30. The detent I5 will slide over serrations 4 when sighting bar 5 is forcibly moved but will otherwise hold sighting bar 5 in any one of a plurality of positions. With the sight set at the desired number of degrees the butt of the rifle is placed firmly on the ground, or preferably within a small recess in the ground, and the muzzle of the rifle elevated or depressed until the bubble in spirit level I9 indicates that sighting bar 5 is on'a horizontal plane. In this position the rifle barrel will be displaced 30 from the horizontal. Then by aligning rear sight notch 216 with blade 8 on the target the grenade is ready to be launched.

The sighting bar 5 is initially adjusted to lie in a plane parallel to the axis of the firearm barrel by positioning the gun with the barrel axis horizontal, then loosening screws II and adjusting sighting bar 5 until such bar lies in a plane parallel to the bore axis as indicated by spirit level I9. The spring I4 is then moved to place the index mark I'I on spring I4 opposite the zero graduation on sight base I. The arcuate slots I8 Y in spring I4 permit this adjustment.

It is readily apparent that with a nearby target, the riiie may be readily shot from the shoulder using the sighting bar in much the same manner as a conventional sighting arrangement. However, with extreme ranges it is generally preferable to place the rifle on the ground and accurately set the angle of elevation of the gun in the manner previously des-cribed. Thus the sight herein described provides a simple accurate device for aiming a rearm for the launching of grenades.

We claim:

1. A grenade launching sight for a rearm comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a firearm, said circular member having a -cylindrical recess therein, a sighting bar, a mounting disc secured to said sighting bar, said disc having an offset lug at either end arranged to engage in said recess, and means for securing said mounting disc in rotatable relation within a mounting disc secured to said sighting bar and arranged to engage in said recess, a resilient clip member secured to said sighting bar, said clip member having bent end portions arranged to engage behind said circular member, thereby securing said sighting bar in rotatable relation to said circular member, and means for securing said sighting bar in any one ofa plurality of angular positions with respect to said circular member.

3. A grenade launching sight for a firearm comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a firearm, said circular member having a cylindri-cal recess therein generated about a horizontal axis transverse with respect to the firearm, a sighting bar, a mounting disc secured to said sighting bar and arranged to engage in said recess, a resilient clip member secured to said sighting bar, said clip member having bent end portions arranged to engage behind said circular member, thereby securing said sighting bar in rotatable relation to said circular member, a plurality of serrations arcuately disposed on the rear surface of said circular member, and toothed means on said bent over end portions of said resilient clip member cooperating therewith, whereby said sighting bar may be resiliently secured in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to the horizontal.

4. A grenade launching sight for a firearm comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a firearm, said circular member having a, cylindrical recess therein generated about a horizontal axis, transverse with respect to the firearm, a sighting bar, a mounting disc secured to said sighting bar and arranged to engage in said recess, a resilient clip member secured to said sighting bar, said clip member having bent end portions arranged to engage behind said circular member, thereby securing said sighting bar in rotatable relation to said circular member, a

plurality of serrations on the rear surface of said circular member, toothed means in said bent end portions of said resilient clip member cooperating therewith, whereby said sighting bar may be resiliently secured in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect t0 the horizontal, a plurality of angular graduations on said circular member, and an index mark movable with said sighting bar cooperating with said graduations to indicate the angular position of said sighting bar with respect to said circular member.

5. A grenade launching sight for a iirearm comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a firearm, said circular member having a cylindrical recess therein, a sighting bar, a mounting disc secured to said sighting bar and arranged to engage in said recess, a resilient clip member, means securing said clip member to said sighting bar, said means permitting limited angular adjustment of said clip member with respect to said sighting bar,.said clip member including means for resiliently latching said mounting disc in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to said circular member.

6. A grenade launching sight for a firearm comprising a circular member aranged to be secured to a rearm, said circular member having a cylindrical recess therein, a sighting bar, a mounting disc secured to said sighting bar and arranged to engage in said recess, a resilient clip member, means securing said clip member to said sighting bar, said means permitting limited angular adjustment of said clip member with respect to said sighting bar, said clip member including means for resiliently latching said mounting disc in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to said circular member, a plurality of angular graduations on said circular member, an index mark on said clip member cooperating with said graduations to indicate the angular position of said sighting bar with respect to said circular member and a spirit level indicator mounted on said sighting bar to indicate when said bar lies in a horizontal position.

'7. A grenade launching sight for a firearm comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a rearm, a sighting bar, a cupshaped mounting member secured to said sighting bar and arranged to surround the periphery of said circular member, a resilient clip member secured to said sighting bar, said clip member having bent end portions arranged to engage behind said circular member, thereby securing said sighting bar in rotatable relation to said circular member, and means for securing said sighting bar in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to said circular member.

8. A grenade launching sight for a rearm comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a iirearm, a sighting bar, a cup-shaped mounting member secured to said sighting bar and arranged to surround the periphery of said circular member, a resilient clip member secured to said sighting bar, said clip member having bent end portions arranged to engage behind said circular member, thereby securing said sighting bar in rotatable relation to said circular member, a plurality of serrations arcutely disposed on the rear surface of said circular member, and toothed means on said bent over end portions of said resilient clip member cooperating therewith, whereby said sighting bar may be resiliently secured in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to the horizontal.

9. A grenade launching sight for a firearm fw fait Hiwit comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a rearm, a sighting bar, a cup shaped mounting member secured to said sighting bar and arranged to surround the periphery of said circular member, a resilient clip member secured to said sighting bar, said clip member having bent end portions arranged to engage behind said circular member, thereby securing said sighting bar in rotatable relation to said circular member, means for securing said sighting bar in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to said circular member, a plurality of angular graduations on said circular member, said mounting member having a notch exposing said graduations, and an index mark movable with said sighting bar cooperating with said graduations to indicate thevangular position of said sighting bar with respect to said circular member.

10. A grenade launching sight for a firearm comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a firearm, a sighting bar, a cup-shaped mounting member arranged to surround the periphery of said circular member, a sighting bar, means securing said sighting bar to the base of said mounting member, said means permitting limited angular adjustment of said sighting bar with respect to said mounting member, aresilient clip member secured'to said sighting bar, said clip member including -means for resiliently latching said mounting member in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to said circular member.

11. A grenade launching sight for a iirearm comprising a circular member arranged to be secured to a rearm, a sighting bar, a cup-shaped mounting member arranged to surround the pe riphery of said circular member, a sighting bar, means securing said sighting bar to the base of said mounting member, said means permitting limited angular adjustment of said sighting bar with respect to said mounting member, a resilient clip member secured to said sighting bar, said clip member including means for resiliently latching said mounting member in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to said circular member, a plurality of angular graduations on said circular member, said mounting member having a notch exposing said graduations, and an index mark movable with said sighting bar cooperating with said graduations to indicate the angular position of said sighting bar with respect to said circular member.

JOHN C. GARAND.

ELI G. COOPER.

JOHN R. BIRD.

HAROLD C. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name l Date 937,244 Kennedy Oct. 19, 1908 1,340,453 Lera May 18, 1920 2,132,490 Mossbergy Oct. 11 1938 2,331,616 Minghetti Oct. 12, 1943 

